EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana has arrived in Georgia in an attempt to reach a peace settlement in the ongoing conflict between Georgia and its breakaway republic of Abkhazia.
Solana is due to meet Georgia's top officials including President Mikhail Saakashvili. Georgian authorities have hailed the visit as significant, given the renewal of tensions in the region. On Friday Solana is to hold talks with Abkhazia's President Sergey Bagapsh who says the visit will not change the unrecognised republic's stance. Abkhazia has been de facto independent since 1992 when it unilaterally declared sovereignty from Georgia triggering a bloody conflict in the region. The republic's independence has not been recognised internationally.